Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Why Reasons Why Maryland Needs Universal Free Higher Education

Fee increases for housing and dining and the University of Maryland-UFHE would fully fund not only tuition, room and board, but also basically necessary infrastructure and needs for universities in the University of Maryland system.

Rising Textbook Costs-A monthly living expenses check of 2,000 per semester (and prorated by month on Summer and Winter semesters) with inflation adjustments would help out a lot with rising textbook costs, so that it will not put students into poverty

Negative Consequences of Using Property Taxes as a Main Source of School Funding

To this day many school districts still use property taxes as a main source of funding for their schools. This is despite two caveats: They highlight inequality between wealthy areas and poor areas in the school system. (That is the first one.) Second, housing market can fluctuate: In this case, we are in a recession and the housing loan crisis this. As property values lower, school districts now suddenly forced to make sacrifices just to keep running. It seems like every year they just keep cutting and cutting budgets . Even worse, there's No (Rich) Child Left Behind they have to deal with.

There are other alternatives to this problem, that is by implementing a county income tax. The income tax would be similar to the federal income tax but smaller. Another idea would to limit property taxes to businesses and people who have more than two homes (so they can only tax the second or subsequent home). I would recommend that both of these ideas be implemented next year, if not this year.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

ECON 200 Cock-up

If you're reading this we are on a five min break. Actually we where
into almost an hour in my first ECON 200 retake when the projector blew
out.

More updates when available
--jkid4

If you're reading this. My Math111 discussion prof did not arrive.

The reason why I started blogging early in around 9:30am is because my discussion professor for MATH111 did not arrived. There was only about four other students in the small classroom as well. Around 9:15am only one man was in there and was about leave to take a shower. So consider this day a bit unusual, since this is the first week of the spring semester.

Hey Baltimore Housing Authority!

Instead of tearing down public housing for so-called "mixed housing" complexes will only allow few low-income people to live there, why not buy the many empty rowhouses that are still lying there just waiting to be occupied. Everytime I ride on Amtrak or MARC going past Baltimore, I see them waiting to be useful. By buying renovating these houses for occupancy, you can prevent them from being turned into meth labs, crack houses, or even worse...burned to the ground!

Same-Ethinic Hate Crimes! But Why Teens Are Still Doing Them

I would not believe this for a minute: Same Race Hate Crimes?

The threatening words discovered on the side of Virginia Trotter's Odenton home sent a chill down her spine: In dark red spray paint, someone had written a racial epithet and the letters KKK in what she saw as an act of racially motivated vandalism.

Anne Arundel County police investigating the crime weren't so sure: Trotter and her husband are black - but so are the teenage suspects.

After initially saying that it was not investigating the incident as a hate crime, the department reversed course yesterday and said the case deserves "special handling."

Aren't those teenagers still attend high school? If people are supposed to have a education, why not have a mandatory high school course on human diversity? That course would educate students about people of different ethnicities, cultures, gender, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, etc. That would be a great prevention tool against hate crime than reactive laws. (Even though we still need them for those who don't care about diversity)

Sadly, there's No (Rich) Child Left Behind and the sexual orientationalists who would prevent such a thing from happening because the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender variency.(They rather have teens perpetuate hate crimes than give them education about the people who will eventually meet in real life)

Monday, January 28, 2008

Got out of math class

My first math class which I got out of five mionutes ago is a bit of a
summary of the proballity poriton of Math 110 (which I barely passed
with a 62%). But I'm done for the day and need to get back to my room
after lunch.
--jkid4

Trains, Subways, and Bikes

Today's Story: Why Can't the Virginian Commonwealth Government Step Up in Funding?

Yesterday it was announced that without major changes from the Federal Transit Administration, the Dulles Rail Link will be put on the back burner. The Project needs $900 million dollars from the Administration. What's a Commonwealth to do?Here's private equity to the rescue! In the form of the Carlyle Infrastructure Fund. Yet with private funding, part of the project and the end resulting Rail Link will be owned by Carlyle.

But there is a better idea, why not the Virginian Government gives up many of its road buliding projects for the Rail Link? We have too many roads any way and the more we build, the most traffic will come. Why not build a rail track that reduced road traffic?


Requiescat In Pace Karibu Books (1993-2008)

I been to Karibu Books a couple of times while I was living at UMD. Most of the time I just window shopped there. I also remember buying a book from them at the 2006 Green Festival for my mom. So it seem surprising that Karibu Books, possibly the only African-American owned and operated book chain is Going Out of Business.

Yesterday I been to the store and half of it's stock already stripped. All of the books now cost 50% of the retail price. I picked up a few books out of curiosity to see what the prices where. A strange oddity that the final novel of Harry Potter and Densha Otoko (Train Man) manga where stocked at the shop. But in the end even though I got the price of those and 5 other books I wanted to get, it was not wroth it. I could could easily get these books online at a much cheaper cost.

With competition coming from big name bookstores, independent chains such as Karibu are being pushed out of the market. And with little minority ownership in bookstores these days: No book store will possibly replace Karibu.

Corrections?! Do Correctional Facilites Correct S***?!

The Baltimore Sun's coverage of the murder of correctional officer Jeffery A. Wroten while decent, does not cover a another perspective: Do correctional facilities do their job? There are three purposes of prisons: Keep them from society, restrict their freedom, and rehabilitation. But by how prisons are run since the Regan-era, they mostly do the first two right. If prisons were also for rehabilitation, why does this convict who was severing seven years for assault and armed robbery killed a correctional officer?

P.S. The title of this post is based on a lyric from 50 Cent's Bulletproof track called "Maybe We Crazy"

Pardon My Dust

I'm trying to update my blog with a new headers. Sadly blogger is not cooperating so it will take a few days to get that figured out.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Doc Block=Crime Block

While I watch plenty of the programing MSNBC has to offer on their "Doc Block", the majority on what they regularly offer is related to crime. The MSNBC's rebroadcasts of To Catch a Predator and Predator: Raw is about sexual offenders. Lockup and it's current series "Lockup: Extended Stay" and now another integration of the series "Lockup: Raw" is about maximum security prisons and inmates. Their true crimes series particularly "Dark Heart-Iron Hand": murders. While they broadcast other documentaries such as "No Place for a Child", and outside documentaries such as HBO's "Gladiator Days: Anatomy of a Prison Murder", "Supersize Me", and other documentaries, such as "Homeless" series. Most of MSNBC's Doc Block ought to be called MSNBC's Crime Block.

Anyway I'm going to watch Lockup: Raw Criminal Minds, featuring one convict who thinks that killing someone is a no brainier. Expect my synopsis soon after.

Another Anti-Immigrant Law?! From Charles, Again?!

Frederick County Commissioner Charles A. Jenkins has proposed another anti-illegal immigrant law, even though his other one died in council last year. His proposal is to periodically audit local businesses that have building permits for any illegal immigrants. If they are any, the company could be fined and have the workers removed. But his proposal has more questions than answers.

Like, how would the law be enforced and funded? Would the law be funded by the fines it would impose? What about legal immigrants? Also, why enact a local law to enforce federal laws against hiring illegal immigrants. But what about the goal of the proposal? Is it to persuade illegals to leave the country? That and the others remain to be seen.

One Cent Hike! Also, Other Tax Hikes in Effect!

With the State of Maryland in a constant budget crisis that seems to never end, I’m afraid that we will not see a real tax cut for the lower and middle class within our lifetime. With that in mind, Maryland’s sales taxes will rise from 5% (that’s 5 cents per dollar) to 6% percent (6 cents per dollar) tomorrow on Thursday. The hike will, according to the Maryland Governor’s Office, will generate about $900 million in addition revenue. The sales tax will make the state competitive to New Jersey, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The States I have mentioned already have a 6% sales tax.

Other taxes for cigarettes, vehicle titling, and corporations have already in effect as of New Years Day 2008. The tax for corporations has been raised from 7% to 8.25%. Taxes for cigarettes are now two dollars per pack. And vehicle titling tax was raised by 20% to 6 cents per dollar.

This article from Gazette.net has a convenient chart of the tax changes in full around the bottom of the page.